NIN PREVIEW

As we look toward the spring outdoor track season, twelve distance runners have made their way to Landover, MD for the NIKE Indoor Nationals. We’ll compete in a few individual events, but the emphasis for this trip is on the three distance relays contested, the 4 x 800m, the 4 x MILE, and the Distance Medley Relay (DMR).

Individually we’ve got senior DAVID LANEY and junior JOEL TURKHEIMER entered in the 5000m, scheduled for Saturday morning at 10:30am Eastern. Both have had outstanding winters of training, bolstered by some good competitive efforts as well. Laney PRed at 3000m in February with a fine 9:17 effort at UW and showed great competitive spirit, positioning himself at or near the front for much of the journey. Two weeks later he just missed his 1500m PR in an outdoor time trial, in very trying conditions. He is, after a few years of incredible hard work, now becoming the distance runner we have all known that he could be – and the runner he has dreamed of becoming. He will certainly improve tremendously over his college years as his running body continues to chase his mind and heart; tomorrow’s effort may be a large step in that development.

Turkheimer appears to have put the difficulties of the fall behind him as the allergy problems he faced are now, seemingly, under control. He was one of our top runners in the summer and early fall but faltered mid-season; allergies were the culprit, and he is back to training at a very high level. In the last three weeks he’s run a time trial over 3000m, producing a solo 9:22 effort against some heavy winds, and run an outdoor 1500m, PRing at 4:14. Given that our training this winter hasn’t necessarily been geared towards producing PR efforts, these runs by Joel bode very well indeed for the spring. As is the case with Laney, this 5000m should be a great springboard for the outdoor season.

At 2:15 on Saturday we’ll go in the 4 x MILE with senior KEVIN O’MALLEY, junior AUSTIN JONES, senior TAYLOR BERGMANN, and senior SAM WOTIPKA. O’Malley has been hampered by illness this winter but still has put in some solid work; if we can keep him healthy he’s likely to crack our all-time top 10 in the 3000m (8:48) this spring. Jones, too, has had a sporadic winter with a hip ailment, but he’s put many hours into alternative training and appears fully recovered at this point. Given his rapid improvement over the cross country season, it is not hard to imagine him achieving some great marks this spring. Bergmann has had a busy winter and now, with his college choice firmly entrenched (Carroll College in Montana), looks to improve upon his fine junior year of track. His 16:40 5km in cross country showed that there is a lot in this young man’s tank, and he clearly enjoys the shorter efforts on the track. Wotipka is our ace-in-the-hole; he has shown flashes this winter of returning to his sophomore form, where he ran 4:04 and 1:58. He ran a solid 2:03 during our windy time trial, leading for much of the latter stages of the race. There has never been any doubt about his ability, and if he puts things together we are all in for quite a treat – with an outside shot at a medal winning performance.

Saturday evening at 6:45 we’re back for another shot at the DMR. Last year we placed 4th despite two of our athletes running with illness. We’re without graduated Kenny Klotz, but this year’s group appears to be 100% healthy. Senior NICK TURNER will lead off, running the 1200m leg; after almost a year of struggling with breathing issues (following a phenomenal junior cross country season), Nick has put together an excellent winter – particular after finding out that he’s allergic to some common foods. In recent weeks he’s looked as good as ever – and won our gusty time trial 800m in 2:02. He appears to be very fit and focused, and that is a great sign for our club. Senior DAVID BELTRAMO will run the 400m leg, as he did a year ago. After a solid yet unspectacular xc season, we decided to focus David’s training on the 400m and 800m this spring; disappointingly he came down with an injury to his heel in late January but has returned with a vengeance. Like Austin Jones, he has put in numerous hours on the elliptical trainer during his rehab, and we expect fantastic things from him the rest of the way. Senior LUKE WILTSHIRE has been fighting both illness and injury during the winter months, but, surprisingly, has been able to do many of the teams’ best workouts. Two weeks ago he ran 2:03, despite clearly not being 100%. With the last two weeks of great health, he is ready to roll and will be a major cog in our spring plans. Anchoring the DMR will be state xc champ TAYLOR MORGAN. His winter of work has been unspectacular but very steady, and there is no doubt that he is becoming stronger every week. Two weeks ago he had a difficult day in our time trial, running 2:04 for 800m; the next week he easily beat a field of small college athletes in 1:57.7. Hopefully, he’s coming along at the right time to be a major factor in this meet. Last year, after a similar winter, he ran 3:06 leading off the DMR; this year we expect that he’ll anchor in a similar fashion. In the last five years at this meet, it’s taken about 10:35 to get a medal; that is a mark well within our range.

Sunday begins with our two outstanding freshmen, PETER SLAUSON and MUSA AHMED, in the frosh mile at 11:05. Peter, in heat 1, has made great progress since he joined us in the summer, running 4:46 for the mile at UW and 9:41 for 3000m in our time trial. He ought to be very competitive in his heat. Musa, after an autumn marred by injury, is finally healthy and has put in a very solid five weeks of training. He too ran 4:46 in Seattle and has had a very good month since then. There is no doubt that he’s ready to shine on Sunday.

Wrapping things up for our group is the 4 x 800m at 4:10 Sunday afternoon. Familiar names Morgan, Wiltshire, Wotipka, and Turner will take one more go at bringing home some hardware for the Rams. It’ll likely take about 8:03 to medal, an effort of which we’re certainly capable.

You can get full results at dyestat.com, and often someone will be giving play by play in the dyestat forum. Also, I’ll be attempting - for the first time – to upload unofficial splits and individual times soon after the conclusion of each race. Try this site to see if it works:

http://www.lapzero.com/my_results.php?user=FRANKIE

On a disappointing note, we’re without one of our finest runners, Samot Turina, who is home ill. Last year Samot made the trip, but became ill before his race. Apparently, he just doesn’t like this meet. We miss him greatly.

Hope to see you all somewhere down the road.